1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an automated trash disposal system; and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for permitting trash which has been segregated by environmental categroy--e.g., recyclable and/or non-recyclable products such as paper products, glass products, aluminum products, tin products, plastic products, unused foods, and the like--to be disposed of by consumers, janitorial employees, housewives or other individuals resident in homes, apartments and the like, office employees, factory employees, and similar individuals having custody of trash that has been generated and segregated by inserting discrete pre-categorized types of trash into selected ones of a plurality of dedicated trash disposal ports located internally within a building or other structure with the thus-segregated trash then being automatically conveyed via a vacuum or other suitable fluid handling system to a remote trash pickup location wherein the discarded trash is automatically deposited in selected ones of a plurality of trash receptacles each dedicated to receive a particular category of environmentally sensitive recyclable and/or non-recyclable trash. More specifically, the present invention provides methods and apparatus which enable individuals to dispose of trash generated within a home, office, business facility or the like by categorizing each item of trash within a particular subject matter category such as paper, plastic, glass, metal, or the like, and inserting that item of trash into a dedicated trash disposal port located within the home, office, business facility or the like with the discarded trash itself then being automatically conveyed to a remote location such as a trash bin located adjacent a curbside or within an alley and defining a pickup point where the items of trash are automatically inserted into the proper one of a plurality of dedicated trash receptacles.
2. Background Art
As is well known, there has been rapidly increasing awareness and concern with regard to environmental effects relating to virtually every type of disposable consumer item, be the item made of paper, metal, wood, plastic, glass and/or other material, many of which are not biodegradable and which may be either recyclable or non-recyclable. Recently, such awareness and concerns have resulted in imposition of mandated trash handling processes and regulations generated by city, community and/or regional authorities. For example, in some cities, towns or similar communities, regulations have been implemented requiring home owners, apartment dwellers, office staff, factory employees, and/or other individuals to deposit their trash into bins which are dedicated to receive different types of trash for subsequent pickup by an authorized sanitation service. In some cases there may be only two categories of trash such, for example, as paper products and non-paper products. However, as awareness and concern over our environment grows, more and more communities are turning to greater and greater restrictions relating to trash disposal requiring segregation between biodegradable and non-biodegradable products, segregation between recyclable and non-recyclable products, or segregation between such items as, merely by way of example, paper, glass, aluminum, plastic, unused food products, etc. Of course, the more severe the trash segregation requirements of a given community, the greater the problems and inconvenience to which individuals are placed.
For example, consider a typical home environment where a wide range of trash is generated such as used paper/cardboard products, food tins, aluminum soda and/or beer cans, glass bottles, plastic containers and the like. Consider also that such an exemplary home is located within a community where trash must be segregated by the consumer prior to discarding into only four (4) categories--viz., i) glass; ii) metal; iii) plastic; and iv), all other trash items. That home owner and all residents of that home are immediately faced with one of two choices--i.e., they can: i) dispose of all of the trash into a single container located in the kitchen, garage or the like, and later segregate that trash into the necessary categories before placing it at a curbside location; or ii), maintain four (4) separate trash receptacles in the home's kitchen, utility room, garage or the like, discarding each trash item as it is generated into the proper receptacle, and later carrying the four (4) receptacles to a remotely located curbside pickup point.
As the ensuing discussion proceeds, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the term "trash" is herein used in its broadest context to include all types of items for which the consumer, homeowner or other individual has no continuing use and wishes to discard irrespective of whether the item is or is not biodegradable and/or is or is not recyclable. Thus, the term "trash" is used to embrace: i) waste paper, paperboard and cardboard products; ii) beer bottles and similar glass containers; iii) tin or aluminum cans; iv) plastic containers and wrappings; and v), all other items of trash that are typically generated in a home, business or industrial facility; as well as: vi) unused food products which are no longer deemed edible or usable; and/or vii), other matter such, for example, as mice, rats and similar rodents that tend to infest trash collection points.
The prior art is, of course, replete with a wide range of systems for handling trash. These include, merely by way of example, a wide variety of central vacuum systems such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 3,048,875--Bottinelli et al [a pneumatic system employing a central vacuum-producing device coupled to a plurality of internal conduits terminating at different locations within a building structure]; 2,675,273--Sanders [a central vacuum system embodying baseboard ducts with openings through which trash can be swept]; 2,609,190--Jackson [a suction apparatus employing conduits coupled to a suction generator at one end and to a multiplicity of inlet ports located throughout the structure]; and, 969,157--Day [a central vacuum system employing a main trash conduit extending vertically through multiple levels within a building structure wherein trash can be swept into the conduit at each different level].
In recent years, such systems have been employed in hospitals to permit used hospital waste ranging from rubber gloves to disposable gowns, to syringes, to severed body parts, and the like, to be discarded by wrapping such materials at the particular ward where generated and inserting the wrapped waste into a central vacuum system which conveys the wrapped waste from the ward of generation to a single collection point.
However, none of the foregoing systems known to the present inventor are capable of differentially handling diverse types of waste materials and transporting them from the point of generation to a selected one of a plurality of dedicated waste receptacles, whether or not remotely located.
Other conventional prior art trash handling systems include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,363,674--Fullenwider [a vacuum system coupled to a stove, furnace, fireplace or the like for permitting automatic removal and discarding of ash and similar waste]; 4,049,321--Bunting [apparatus for removing waste material from a manufacturing operation by depositing the material on a screen in a box, closing the box, and blowing the material to a waste disposal point]; and, 3,885,835--Breeden [a vacuum system for permitting disposal of waste paper towels].
U.S Pat. No. 4,108,498--Bentsen is of interest for its disclosure of a plant for handling trash wherein garbage of all types is input to the system via a selected one of multiple inlet ports and inlet conduits and stored therein until each such port/conduit is coupled to a common horizontal transport duct communicating with a common trash receptacle. Trash is moved from the inlet duct into the main transport duct through a valve opening, and then to a common reservoir by means of vacuum. A somewhat similar arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,286--Wieland wherein the system is designed for incorporation into a commercial aircraft such that each passenger has access to a trash disposal port adjacent the passenger's seat, with all trash being conveyed via a vacuum system to a single trash receptacle.
However, none of the foregoing prior art, nor any other prior art of which the present inventor is aware, provides multiple trash disposal ports internally of a structure wherein such ports are dedicated to accept only one of different categories, of trash, with the trash inserted therein being conveyed via a vacuum or other suitable fluid system to a remote location and stored in a selected one of a comparable plurality of trash receptacles each dedicated to receive and temporarily hold different types of environmentally sensitive trash items for pickup and subsequent processing.